Covered buttons



(No Model.)

H; W. FRENCH.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING COVERED BUTTONS.

No. 323,303. Patented Aug; 4, 1335.

. J 4 I Q 4% I UNITED TATES ATENT OFFICE.

HENRY WV. FRENCH, OF IVATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE LANEMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING COVERED BUTTONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 323,803 dated August 4,1885.

Application filed June 30, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that l, HENRY WV. FRENCH, of IVaterbury, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented new Improvements inApparatus for Manufacturing Covered Buttons; and I do hereby declare thefollowing, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings, and theletters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitutepart of this specification, and represent, in

Figure 1, a central section of the button complete; Fig. 2, the partsset together pre- I 5 paratory to closing; Fig. 3, a perspectiveseetional View of the four parts of the button detached; Fig. 4, avertical section of the closing mechanism in its normal position withthe parts of the button introduced; Fig. 5, a

section of the same, showing the mechanism as having closed the partstogether.

This invention relates to an improvement in the manufacture of thatclass of buttons which are composed of a metal back, an open metal frontwith filling of a character to present an ornamental appearance throughthe open front, the back and front closed together to complete thebutton. These buttons of the simplest character are composed of fourparts:

first, the front A; second, the back B; third,

the ornamental disk 0, and, fourth, the filling D.

The front A is struck up in cup shape from sheet metal, with its facemore or less open,

5 so that the material beneath it may be exposed through the openings.The back B is of sim- 1lar cup shape, but of less extreme diameter thanthe front, and so that its edge will pass within the flange of thefront. In the center 0 of the back is a depression or other device toform the eye.

In the usual method of putting these parts together the operator takesthe part B in one hand; then introduces into that part first thefilllng-piece D, which is made from pasteboard, felt, or any suitablematerial; then upon that the part C, and, finally, the cap or front A isset over all, as seen in Fig. 2. lhen the parts so set together by handare introduced into a die, which will close the edge of the cap :orfront around the edge of the back, as seen in Fig. 1. As before stated,this is the simplest of this class of buttons. In other styles a greaternumber of pieces are employedthat is, in some cases the face isornamented by different colors or material through circles of openingsin the front. In that case the material for ornamentation is cut inrings, which will be exposed through their respective open portions ofthe front. This setting together of the parts by hand preparatory totheir introduction into the die consumes so much time as to make thisclass of buttons expensive. Great care is necessarily exercised in theproper placing of the parts together, and each part introduced must beheld by the finger until the next is in place, and, finally, all theparts must be held within the fingers until located in the die, and itfrequently occurs that in introducing the parts so assembled into thedie they will be displaced and make a defective button. Such misplacingof the parts causes a very considerable loss to the manufacturer.

The object of my invention is to simplify this method of manufacture andavoid the hand assembling; and it consists in the apparatus, ashereinafter fully described, and particularly recited in the claim.

I will first describe an apparatus by which my method of manufacture maybe carried out.

E represents the follower, which :("0 fast in the reciprocating slide ofa buttonclosing press, it being constructed with a shank, F, forconvenience of attachment to g the slide. Upon this follower is anannular sleeve, G, the diameter of the follower and the internaldiameter of the sleeve corresponding substantially to the front or capof the button. The collar is held upon the follower by a spring, H,which holds the follower in a position with its open mouth considerablybelow the lower end of the follower, but yet so as to permit thefollower to pass down through the collar when the collar is held forsuch movement.

On the bed of themaehine,in axial line with the follower E,is astationary stud, I, fixed in the base J. Around this stud I is a sleeve,K, between which and the base is a spring, L, and so that the sleeve Krests upon the top of the spring, the spring itself resting on the baseJ, and so that pressure applied to the upper end of the sleeve K willforce the said sleeve toward the base, and the reaction of the springreturn the sleeve when the power which depressed the sleeve is removed.

a is a tubular die constructed to set upon the sleeve K and beconcentrically located thereon. This may be done by a flange on the oneto setinto a recess onthe other, as shown. Theupper end of this die hasa recess forming a shoulder, 1), corresponding to the lower end, (I, ofthe sleeve G. The stud I locates the die (L ll1 axial line with thefollower E and the sleeve G, which it carries, and so that as the slideof the press descends the lower end, (I, of the sleeve G will enter therecess in the die a and strike upon the shoulder I). \Vithin the die ais a follower, c. This follower is fee for vertical movement within thedie athat is to say, is loose thereinand is prevented from escaping fromthe die by a pin, f, through the wall of the die into a vertical groovein the side of the follower c. The internal diameter of the diecorresponds substantially to the diameter of the back of the button, andthe upper face of the follower e corresponds to the under or rear faceof the back, and has centrally through it an opening, 9, which willpermit the eye portion of the back to set below the face of thefollower.

The front or cap of the button, it will be understood, as beforedescribed, is of larger diameter than the back; hence the internaldiameter of the sleeve G is slightly greater than the internal diameterof the die a,- but the upper end of the opening in the die a iscountersunk or made flaring, as at h, the extreme diameter correspondingto the extreme diameter of the front or cap.

The operator first takes the front A of the button and introduces itinto the mouth of the sleeve G, as seen in Fig. 4-, the internaldiameter of the sleeve G being such with relation to the front or cap Athat the cap is readily held within the sleeve by frictional contactonly; then taking the die a from its seat in the sleeve K and holding itin one hand with the other,first throws the back into the cavity in thedie, which readily locates itself upon the face of the follower c,- thenplaces the disk-like filling G into the same opening in the die, whichreadily locates itself within the back of the button, and then theornamenting-disk D is thrown in like manner into the die upon thefilling, each finding its own proper position in the die, and withoutany effort on the part of the operator. These parts of the buttontluisintroduced, the

die is reset upon the sleeve K. Then the follower E, with its sleeve G,carrying the front A, is forced down, as seen in Fig. 5, the end (Z ofthe die first striking the shoulder b, and there coming to a hearing.The spring H above the sleeve G yields, as also the spring L below thesleeve K, and until the follower 0 comes to a bearing upon the stud I;then the follower c, standing and supporting the back with its contents,the follower E continues its descent with the cap until the lower end ofthe sleeve K comes to a bearing upon the base, as also seen in Fig. 5,which arrests the farther downward movement of the diea, and just as theflaring portion h has arrived at a position around the back; then thefollower E, still continuing, forces the face A still. farther downward.The flange of the face or cap entering this flaring portion it in thedie a is contracted around the outer edge of the back and closedtogether, as seen in Fig. 5, and as also seen in Fig. 1, which completesthe button.

By employing the removable die (1/,with its loose follower 0, so as toform a cavity to receive the back and all parts to form thebutton,eXcept the cap or front, the parts to form the button areassembled without any special care or attention on the part of theoperator. As no misplacement of those parts is possible, cach,guided bythe walls of the die, must find its own proper location, the loss inconsequence ot'defective buttons is avoided, cheaper and lessexperienced help maybe employed in the manufacture of this class ofbuttons, and the cost of manufacture also greatly redueed.

The description of the operation as applied to the making of a four-partbutton will be sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to employthe invention in the manufacture of buttons of this class composed ofmore or less parts.

I claim In a machine for making buttons, the combination of a stud, I,sleeve K,supported upon a spring around said stud, the follower E,sleeve G, and spring H, surrounding said follower, concentric with andarranged to move in line with said stud I, the removable die a, with itsfollower e, said die and follower c constructed to receive the back andfilling parts of the button, and the sleeve G, to receive the cap orfront, substantially as described.

HENRY XV. FRENCH.

Vitncsscs:

GEORGE II. Co'wnLL, \VILLIAM H. JoNns.

